What do you see when you look up into the night sky? Years ago, I stood on the edge of a mountain in Utah. The sky was literally filled with stars as thick as white dust. We don’t see the heavens like that around here because of Light Pollution. The lights around us filter out the brightness of the stars. But go out west, into the desert or mountains or travel across the oceans and you’ll see a sky full of stars. Someone calculated the number of stars at 7 sextillion. Or 7 with 21 zeros.
From earliest times, before electric lights stole away our view, the people spent much more time looking at the heavens than we do. They watched the stars, connected the dots of light and drew figures in the sky. And from those figures created stories to fill their imaginations, and a celestial world came alive.
I can’t do that. I’m good if I can find the Big and Little Dippers and maybe the three stars of Orion’s Belt. Beyond that it’s just a bunch of random, bright dots in the sky.
Yet, in all the thousands of years of human observation, there is a consistency in the images men have seen. And not only of the images but in the names given to the stars for common meanings. From vantage points all over the known world came a similar storyline for each constellation.
And from the earliest documentation, those names and storylines remain pretty much the same until the Greeks began to create their own stories. Giving rise to a mythology that overwrote the intended message God had written in the heavens. Their stories became like Light Pollution to block out the original message, another attempt by Satan to distort the intentions of God giving insight into His plans.
The early observers saw 12 primary constellations, each surrounded by three sub-constellations called Decans that with the primary constellation, made up a themed story. Each constellation takes its turn for a month each year along with its Decans to take centerstage and tell its story.
But unlike the secular zodiac, which runs from Aries to Pisces, the first sign in the prophetic version begins with Virgo and ends with Leo. As we’ll see, these mark the story of Jesus, first coming as Messiah and finally will come as Lion. A child born to a virgin who was the Lion King.
Now it’s easy to read backwards and make things we currently know apply to what we don’t understand in the past. We take our understanding of the NT and read that understanding back into the OT. We use the OT to better understand things in the New. It’s also how prophecy works. Prophecy predicts future events so that when they happen or after they’ve happened, people can go back to the original and see the message of how what was to happen connects with what did happen.
But, this is not a study to force our understanding back onto the early observers’ portrayal of the constellations. We’re using their understanding to see how God wrote His message, so that: Ps 19:1 The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. 2 Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.
From the perspective of the message God placed in the stars, we begin with Virgo.
Almost all cultures refer to this constellation as The Virgin. What’s also interesting is that almost all cultures see her, a virgin, associated with motherhood. As we know, the two don’t go together. By virtue of one the other is lost. However, on one altar found in ancient, pre-Christian Germany was the dedication to The Virgin Who is to Bring Forth.”
The Greek name for Virgo is Parthenos. The famous remains of a temple in Athens is named the Parthenon and means The Temple of the Virgin Goddess. Of course, this temple was created for the pagan cult worship of Athena. But the image of her being a virgin remains the same.
Long before the Greeks, the early Egyptians connected a few more stars and expanded the image they saw to have Virgo holding an infant they named Horus. The name Horus meant He Who Comes Forth. The Babylonians called Virgo the Great Mother. The Assyrian name means She Who Brings forth.
But in each reference, the emphasis is clearly on her offspring and not herself. Although the sign clearly portrays a virgin, the central message of Virgo is not about the woman, it is about her son. Who He is is described later.
Of the stars that collect to make up the constellation: Spica, one of the brightest stars, means head of grain. The original Hebrew name for this star was Zerah which meant The Seed.
The same word is used in: Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel."
Virgo shows us a virgin who is to bear a Child. As a virgin bearing a child, this means the conception of that child must be miraculous. Which, as we know, her Seed (which doesn’t come from women but men) refers to a virgin birth. This takes divine intervention, which will make this child the Son of God.
Luke 1:31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; 35 The angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.
The picture of the Virgin has her holding a tree branch in her right hand. It’s pointed up which indicates receiving. In her left hand is a sheaf of wheat pointed down. This indicates giving or passing along. The branch and the seed will come together in her.
The Hebrew word for Branch is used four times in Scripture and each time refers to the Messiah.
Isa 4:2 In that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious,
Jer 23:5 "Behold, the days are coming," declares the LORD, "When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; and He will reign as king… 6 In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely; and this is His name by which He will be called, 'The LORD our righteousness.'
Zec 3:8 'Now listen, Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who are sitting in front of you—indeed they are men who are a symbol, for behold, I am going to bring in My servant the Branch.
Isa 11:1 Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. 2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
The seed brought forth by the Virgin will be the Messiah.
Interesting side story: when Isaiah told King Ahaz his reign would be established, he told Ahaz to ask God for a sign to prove this was true. Ahaz felt that would be tempting God so he refused. Isaiah said: Isa 7:14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.
Why would he refer to this sign? To remind Ahaz that the God who establishes His promises, even in the Heavens, is faithful to deliver them. And He will be faithful to Ahaz.
Another star by various names within Virgo means Who Shall Come Down or Who Shall Have Dominion. In Chaldean, this star meant The Branch Shall Come Down. The name the Greeks used meant The Deliverer Who Comes.
God designed the Constellation to tell of His future plans.
The sign Virgo presents the One who is the seed of a woman. He is to come and His coming will be as a branch from the tree of God’s purposes. He will be God with us.
Now, associated with each of the 12 Primary Constellations are groups of additional constellations that amplify or clarify the Primary one. These groups are called Decans, meaning, a part or a piece. There are 36 Decans divided into 3 per constellation to add understanding within the framework of the 12 signs.
Virgo is accompanied by one Decan named: Coma. It is another picture of the virgin but this time as a mother with the child she gave birth to standing in her lap. His head is higher than hers which symbolizes He will be greater than her.
The name Coma, is Hebrew meaning The Desired or The Longed For. It’s the same word Haggai used of the long waited-for Messiah: Hag 2:7 And I will shake all the nations; and the desire of all nations shall come; and I will fill this house with glory, says Jehovah of Hosts.
The Egyptians called this child standing on the virgin’s lap: the Desired Son. Or Desired Offspring. In a perversion of the original, they give the Virgin the name Isis – as their goddess of fertility which made her the goddess of life. They named the son: Horus, who was one of Egypt’s most significant deities as the god of the Kings. Even in their perversion this child was a god over-all.
From the writings of an Arabian astronomer who was not a Christian, he said: “there arises a young woman whose Persian name means pure and immaculate virgin, sitting on a throne, nourishing an infant, whose Hebrew name is called Yehoshua which we in Greek call Yeshua.” Yeshua was the name Gabriel told Mary to name Jesus. Luke 1:31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. The actual name is Yeshua. It’s the Greek version of the Hebrew name Joshua – meaning Jehovah Saves. In English we call Him Jesus.
Some think it was within this Coma that the star of Bethlehem was seen. That a new star suddenly appeared brighter than the rest. Things like that happen beyond our ability to notice, like when a star is dying it suddenly becomes much brighter then goes away or shines for years. God could have made a specific star for this announcement or had it timed with the death of a star that could have been within the Magi’s ability to see it glowing brightly. That explains how the Magi calculated Jesus would have been 2 years old when they got to Jerusalem.
Though the star remains a mystery, faith gives us the ability to believe God can make such phenomenon happen. He who made all the stars could do whatever He chose to announce the birth in the heavens.
In describing this new star, the Bishop of Antioch in 69 A.D. said: “At the appearance of the Lord, a star shone forth brighter than all the other stars.” Realize at 69 A.D. he was close enough to the original event that what he said could have been from direct knowledge passed down people who actually saw that star.
The next Decan was of a constellation called Centaurus.
This child, who was to be born of a virgin and be the desired Messiah to come, would also have two natures. He would be God and Man. Centaurus explains the dual nature.
Though in Greek mythology the centaur is not a desirable creature – he is half man, half horse – he is despised by both men and the gods. There is great symbolism here.
The Hebrew name is Bezeh. It’s the same word used by Isaiah: Isa 53:3 He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
Another Hebrew name used for this same Decan was Asmeath which means Sin-Offering. Combined, it describes someone who is the Despised Sin-Offering. The rest of Isaiah 53 explains how this One will die on behalf of the sins of the world.
Interesting that the Greek story tied to Centarus has even more to say. There was a man named Chiron who was a teacher of all the great heroes of Greece. He was immortal but agreed to die. In dying, he passed on his immortality to Prometheus who then gained eternal life.
The Greek’s also saw another star within this Decan they named: The Pierced. Interesting package of insight: A perfect teacher who, though He was despised and rejected, would be pierced and died so that a man might have eternal life.
Underneath Centaurus is a collection of stars called The Southern Cross. Because it’s underneath him, it speaks of how the Centaur will die. That he will be pierced and die upon a cross, despised and rejected.
Placement within a constellation has great significance, like our statues of famous military heroes from earlier days. If they died in battle their horse is raring up. If they survived, their horse is down on all fours. If they were wounded in battle and died later, one leg is raised.
The Egyptians had a different name for Centarus: Knemu. Kne means appointed. Mu to die. The One Appointed to Die.
It’s also interesting that the Romans added the word Rex to Centaurus – Rex means king. Rex Centarus – Making this dual-natured man a King. Which, of course Pilate had engraved on the sign above Jesus’ cross – He was King of the Jews.
The third Decan is Bootes. This depicts a shepherd running, carrying a shepherd’s crook in his right hand and a sickle in his left. This is the name in Job: Arcturus which later became The Bear. The Egyptians called it The One Who Subdues, Rules and Governs. Its Hebrew meaning is He who Comes or The Coming One.
Ps 96:12 Let the field exult, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy 13 before the LORD, for He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in His faithfulness.
Another source called him The Guardian of the Flock or The Great Shepherd.
One star located in his head means Pierced: which adds to His story that He is The Shepherd who will die.
John 10:11 I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
Zec 12:10 "I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.
What about the sickle? It’s part of the message that remains to be fulfilled. The story isn’t over.
Rev 14:14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud was one like a son of man, having a golden crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand. 15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying out with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, "Put in your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is ripe." 16 Then He who sat on the cloud swung His sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped.
So, Virgo and her Decans gives us the message: The Virgin will have a child who is the longed for One to Come, who will be a King who shepherds His people, dying for them so he may give them eternal life.
We already know that. That’s the story of the Gospel. So that now, we don’t need the stars to tell us the story. We have the Word of God. The truth is revealed, the blanks filled in by Jesus.
Heb 1:1 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.
TAKEAWAYS:
- God wrote His message in the stars, allowing mankind to get a preview of what He planned in the future.
- When the time was right, God created a visual within the constellation that said the One promised had come.
- With insight from Daniel, the Maji knew one day this great King would be born and prompted their journey soon after the star appeared.
- As with Ahaz, God’s promises can be counted on because the God who promises is faithful.
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